Monthly Archives: September 2008

in last weeks action packed blog post we talked about preparing to drywall..well..this week we are done…the bedroom..crappily. I have never been one to seek perfection and this bedroom was a great example of that. It is also a great example of the difference between reading a book on a subject and actually doing something..there is a big difference between reading something and doing something..at least for someone like me who has never done stuff like this before. Wow..what a learning process. So many things I did not consider when beginning this project but the good thing is I thought of solutions to all of my issues…afterward…but that is OK too since it is the bedroom that we finished..and it is mostly us who are in there..and the dogs but they don’t seem to mind the mistakes. Also, sometimes mistakes are evident to only ourselves..we are extra critical of the work and notice the imperfections. this is not one of those cases. hehe.

Here are some of the issues we encountered..I will not have pictures for most of these issues for the record…these issues are not in order

Issue 1: how the hell am I supposed to do the ceiling? It is too heavy to hold in place with the 2 of us.
Solution: buld a t-brace out of 2 2x4s..worked perfectly..so I built 2..a world of difference.

Issue 2: which side should I cut on when doing the ceiling? One piece of a ceiling has the cut on the wrong side and as a result there is an excessive gap in between 2 of the sheets on the ceiling
Solution temporary: – fill with more mud and tape
Solution long term: stop being an idiot and make cuts where they will not be seen..jeeze.

Issue 3: which way is best to hang drywall on the wall..up and down or side to side?
Solution: for this room..both. We decided in the end that all future sheets will be up and down. Does your wife like photographs? WhAAAA.

Issue 4: where the hell amd I supposed to attach this piece?
SOlution temporary: nothing. its flopping around in the corner like a beached whale.
Solution long term: make sure all end pieces have something to attach to..before starting drywall

Issue 5: how the hell do I attach this end piece when it is between 2 studs?
SOlution: nail in 3 pieces of wood so that the ends have something to attach to
solution long term: cut the pieces so they don’t end in between 2 studs. idiot jeeze.

Issue 6: how do I cut drywall..
solution: with a jigsaw..we did the whole room this way and were later ridiculed by someone with more knowledge..you should have seen the mess it made.
long term: use a case opened to score the drywall and cut through the paper..then snap it and use the casecutter on the other side where the paper is. DUH!

Issue 7: its getting hard to breathe in here.
Solution: open a window and get a fan

Issue 9: how do I do the corners with mud to finish?
Solution: poorly..on the first corner I did it was the floppy-floppy corner from issue 4. I wanted to give it more support so I put metal OUTSIDE corner piece in place and mudded the hell out of it.

Issue 10: how do I cut holes for plugs, fixtures and switched
SOlution: poorly. I made the holes too big, did not unscrew the plugs and needed to fix up..1 inch gaps are too much.
Long term: cut small holes based on precise measurements..if its too small make it bigger but try to get it as snug as you can.

Issue 11: I am thirsty
Solution: drink 7 beer

Issue 12: how much mud is too much
SOlution: experience..more is better to start as you can always sand off escess

Issue 13: how much do I sand off and how often?
Solution: I found that with mud that less is more. I put on a coat of mud, let it dry and sanded..and I had to do it 4 times in places cause I was not sure..bottom line is that I should have applied mud thick on first pass, lightly sanded then tried to start blending on second coat. In the bedroom most of the lines are visible in some way..extra work made it look worse.

Issue 14: how can this place be less messy and dusty
SOlution: do cuts outside for drywall and seal in room prior to sanding so that dust stays mostly in the bedroom..or any room.

Issue 15: who gets to paint
Solution: A*..and actually a couple of neighbors who adore her.

Bottom line..it was a learning experience and I KNOW I can do a MUCH beter job in the rest of the place..and I will get my chance starting next week..yahoo..I am SOO excited. sarcasm is hard to pick up when reading it.

..no, not a panic room. No, not a ultra-complete finsihed productaroo..when I say sanctuary I mean a place where we can go where we don’t have to be in an incomplete area. We are scheduled to move into the camp in about 3 weeks..the electricity is done, the plumbing is done..so we have power and running water, the windows are in, the door is in, the solartube is in and the siding is complete. the next steps are all inside and its all stuff that A* and I can do all by ourselves.

ALL of the insulation has been removed from the place and there are cuts in the vapor barrier to allow for the removal of the insulation..so the next steps for us are to put in the insulation for the entire place, reseal the vapor barrier with tuck tape, apply acoustical caulking where the vapor barrier meets the floor..then ( and here is the exciting part ) put up some drywall! Yeeehaw! We are onto our next set of major projects and the first thing we are going to do is our bedroom. As I mentioned, we will put the insulation back up, reseal and apply caulk for the whole place today and then go into the city and buy some supplies..then tomorrow we start the drywall. I am also starting to grow a ‘drywall beard’ and I will be growing it out until all of the drywall is done in the hopes of using a disgusting goatee as the imputus to hurry along.

Materials to buy:
– 15 sheets of drywall
– drywall saw
– 2 cases of mud..get the sort that the dust falls directly to the floor..cost 2-3$ more but worth it!
– corner paper tape
– fibreglass tape for seams
– 1 box of drywall screws
– drywall screw heads..specially made to sink to proper depth for drywall screws.
– corner mud applicator…bought a plastc cheap one and a meal more expensive one
– mud applicator blad/trowel or whatever you call it
– patience..can I buy that? I hope.

As I said..when this is done we will at least have a place for our bed and clothes..so when we do the rest of the work we don’t have to surrond ourselves with it..as much.